Yardbyrd

Yardbyrd occupies a garden corner of Witchcliffe on the Bussell Highway, a few minutes south of Margaret River, with a fireplace for the cold months and a leafy courtyard for the rest of the year. Doors open at 7am and the kitchen stops at 2pm, closing Tuesdays and Sundays, so it is a breakfast-and-lunch room rather than an afternoon one. The savoury muffins, breakfast burrito and house-made cakes carry the reputation.

Dogs in the courtyard

Local dog-friendly guides list Yardbyrd among the cafes that welcome dogs, with leashed dogs settling into the leafy outdoor courtyard close by their owners. The garden setting does most of the work: shade, room between tables, and a relaxed country rhythm where a dog under the table draws no attention at all. Water is an easy ask at the counter, and because the courtyard handles the traffic it is worth arriving before the mid-morning surge on weekends when the Margaret River crowd pushes south.

Worth knowing

Hours are 7am to 2pm Wednesday to Monday, with Tuesday closed. Parking sits off the highway at the Witchcliffe village end and the Redgate beach turnoffs are a short drive west for a post-breakfast swim. There is no fenced dog area here, so courtyard dogs stay leashed, and in winter the fireplace inside is off limits to dogs, which makes the enclosed feel of the courtyard a fair-weather proposition.

Make a day of it

Witchcliffe keeps good company. Dear Darnell's in the same village does a longer sit-down menu with dogs outside, the Wadandi Track north through Cowaramup gives dogs a flat rail-trail run, and Redgate Forest Retreat a few minutes west handles the overnight. Everything else in the region sits in the Margaret River guide or the list of dog friendly cafes in Western Australia.